How to use visual social media part one: Instagram and Pinterest

The web is becoming more and more visual, and nowhere more so than on social media, where some of the most influential platforms revolve around pictures and video.

Social networks which were previously text-centric have made a point of integrating more flexible and better-quality options for embedding media, and the last few years have seen the astronomic rise of several key platforms which revolve entirely around visual media.

New entrants to the social media scene also reflect this trend, finding new and adventurous things to do with visuals – take Peach, whose users communicate with GIFs, drawings and artful combinations of text and images. Or the newly-minted Yubl, which is driven by eye-catching graphics that users can tap to react to.

Knowing how to tailor your approach to visual social media platforms will be vital for effective promotion across all social networks going forward.

In this article and its follow-up, I’ll be looking at four major players in visual social media – Instagram, Pinterest, Tumblr and Snapchat – and how you can make the most of their unique features in a marketing context, as well as some useful tips for approaching visual media on any social network.

He cites the example of Taco Bell, which used Instagram to launch its new breakfast line with a “retro, sun-bleached colour palette” to complement the brand’s youthful ethos.

Storytelling ftw

Take advantage of the opportunities for storytelling. As I mentioned above, Instagram has introduced carousel ads to provide advertisers with more range and flexibility.

Users swipe left to view a series of images, which could be different items from a range, or a sequence of images that tell a short story.

The increase to 60-second ads also gives opportunities for a longer story to be told with video, such as T-mobile’s extended version of its Super Bowl ad featuring the rapper Drake, which was published to Instagram.

Tell a story with content

Storytelling opportunities aren’t restricted to advertising – with some creativity and planning, you can tell a powerful story just as well with content marketing.

Take Red Bull, a notable Instagram early adopter, which uses Instagram to showcase adrenaline-pumping, daredevil stunts which are often sponsored by the brand itself.

It had an early video hit with a six-second clip of Russian BASE jumper Valery Rozov leaping from Mount Everest. The video is short, simple and impactful, featuring two shots linked by a single cut, more like a Vine than an Instagram video.

Longer videos do give an opportunity for expanded storytelling, but if you can pack a punch with less, by all means do so.

Pinterest

Pinterest is the dark horse social network that came from nowhere to become phenomenally popular with a very specific demographic: young-to-middle-aged women. (Pinterest’s users are 81% female, with a median age of 40, though most of its active pinners are younger than that).

It has since evolved into the ultimate ecommerce hub, with a community of creative, innovative and ingenious users flocking to Pinterest for DIY tips, hacks, shopping ideas and inspiration.

As Kevin Knight, Head of Creative and Brand Strategy at Pinterest, told ClickZ, Pinterest is a “future-planning tool” and a place that people go specifically to interact with brands.

Pinterest has welcomed this with open arms with the addition of Buyable Pins, which enable users to purchase products directly from their iPhone or iPad using Pinterest. Promoted Pins are also available to businesses based in the U.S., with the option of either boosting Pin engagement or driving more traffic through to your website.

So how can you get the best out of this commerce-friendly platform?

Curation and shareability are key

Pinterest is a curation-heavy platform, with over 80% of Pins being repinned from elsewhere in the site.

In fact, you can divide the four sites I’m analysing here down the middle by distinguishing between platforms that revolve around curation (Pinterest and Tumblr) and platforms which revolve around ‘original’ content (Instagram and Snapchat). Shareability is key.

Learn from analytics

Pinterest Analytics provides detailed information not only about your own account on Pinterest (including impressions, clicks and repins) but also content from your website that people have Pinned elsewhere, allowing you to see exactly what works, who is interacting and what is gaining the most activity.

Make the most of Pinterest’s interactivity and collaboration

Etsy is one brand which makes extremely effective use of this feature on Pinterest, inviting ‘Guest Pinners’ to contribute to a particular board which focuses on an area relevant to Etsy’s brand.

This partnership serves to build a strong relationship between both Etsy and the contributor, as well as benefiting both with increased exposure, more followers and more activity.

Use Pinterest boards on other sites

Take your boards outside of Pinterest to engage people across platforms.

Pinterest boards can be embedded on websites and blogs (including Tumblr!); you can also add a ‘Pin It’ or Follow button to invite users back to Pinterest from your website, either to share your content or to follow you.

In the next half, we’ll be looking at why you shouldn’t overlook Tumblr, why Snapchat’s vanishing media is great for exclusive content, and some useful tips you can apply across the board when planning out any visual social media strategy.

This week, both LinkedIn and Facebook are beefing up their paid social offerings in different ways, while Google seeks to cut off Adwords revenues for fake news sites. And might Google be favouring desktop over its own AMP in its upcoming mobile-first index?

Here we’ll take a look at the basic things you need to know in regards to search engine optimisation, a discipline that everyone in your organisation should at least be aware of, if not have a decent technical understanding.